Inside Television with Alan Sepinwall

Review: 'The Walking Dead' - 'When the Dead Come Knocking': Drop the needle and pray

Michonne makes new friends, while Glenn is reacquainted with an old one

By Alan Sepinwall Sunday, Nov 25, 2012 10:01 PM

On "The Walking Dead," Michonne gives Rick, Oscar and Daryl a tour.

Credit: AMC

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A quick review of tonight's "The Walking Dead" coming up just as soon as I telecommute...

Writing this right before the Thanksgiving holiday begins, so my time to discuss "When the Dead Come Knocking" is limited.

It was a transitional episode, but a largely effective one, particularly in detailing the physical and psychological torture Glenn and Maggie are under while captives of the Governor and Merle. Glenn really has changed from the man Merle knew (hard to imagine the quarry-era Glenn fighting off and killing a walker while duct-taped to a chair), and Lauren Cohan continues to do excellent work whenever Maggie's emotions are pushed to the limit (here bracing herself in the event the Governor chose to rape her). I also like that both the Governor and Michonne are so impressed with what Rick and the others accomplished in clearing out the prison. Given the shape of things at Woodbury, and all the armaments he scavenged off the murdered National Guard unit, I'm not sure why the Governor would be so keen on the prison at this point, but the idea that Rick and his motley band accomplished something that Merle didn't think was possible is nice, and makes the idea that Rick and company may be able to get in and out of Woodbury alive seem more plausible.

I also liked Rick and Carl finally talking a bit about Lori's death, and coming up with a name for the baby (Judith) that evokes the peaceful world they once lived in rather than the horrible and violent one they can't escape. Overall, though, Michonne's time at the prison was so brief (Hershel must have been the world's most overqualified veterinarian, given how good he is at treating human gunshot wounds) and without any kind of opening up at all, that she remains a walking, grimacing plot device(*).

(*) Though still quite a bit better than the random guy in the random cabin who appears to have, like Rick, hibernated through the entire zombie apocalypse until now.

We'll see what happens if/when they breach Woodbury's security, how Andrea will respond to seeing so many old friends in her new home, whether either of the Dixon brothers will switch teams out of family loyalty (my guess is Merle's more likely than Daryl), and I'm guessing a whole lot more when we get to next week's mid-season finale.

Once again, let me remind you again of this blog's No Spoiler rule and how it applies to this show, as I've had to delete a bunch of comments the last few weeks that violated it. Basic things to remember before commenting:

1. No talking about the previews for the next episode.

2. No talking about anything else you know about upcoming episodes from other sources — and, yes, that includes anything Mazzara and Kirkman have said in interviews.

3. No talking about anything that's happened in the comic that hasn't happened in the TV show yet. As with "Game of Thrones," the goal is to treat "The Walking Dead" TV show as exactly that, and not as an excuse for endless comparisons with the comics. If you want to talk about the comics, feel free to start up a discussion thread on our message boards.

With that in mind, what did everybody else think?

Alan Sepinwall may be reached at sepinwall@hitfix.com

Alan Sepinwall
Sr. Editor, What's Alan Watching

Alan Sepinwall has been reviewing television since the mid-'90s, first for Tony Soprano's hometown paper, The Star-Ledger, and now for HitFix. His new book, "The Revolution Was Televised," about the last 15 years of TV drama, is for sale at Amazon. He can be reached at sepinwall@hitfix.com

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Next 228 Comments

Bridget

Carol being found plays an huge part in whether or not Daryl sticks with the Team Prison. Her return makes the otherwise unsympathetic Daryl more apt to stick with his group regardless of Merle's existence. (and with them being two of my favorite characters, I'm thankful for this)
November 25, 2012 at 11:12PM EST Reply to Comment
- binkibianca I can't stand Merle but I definitely agree with you about this. I think he's going to align with Rick's group during the show down
  November 26, 2012 at 2:20AM EST
- belinda Plus Daryl won't let us down right? I see him possibly switching at first (since the M/D relationship has Merle being the big brother leader of the two, and Daryl has softened up considerably in the time apart that I can see him either choosing Merle or buying into his BS at least at first).
  But ultimately I think neither brothers would switch team, tbh. Probably Daryl kills Merle since I don't really see Merle sticking around back on Rick and co (or maybe that's just wishful thinking).
  November 26, 2012 at 6:25AM EST
- notWalt I can't see Merle being allowed back on Team Rick, certainly not if Glen and Maggie survive, and if Michonne id's him. There' a little more coward in that bully than we saw in season 1.
  November 26, 2012 at 10:32AM EST
- JonDee If the torture of Glen and Maggie hadn't happened, I could just barely see Merle switching sides and helping the group. But not now.
  
  The closest we might come to that is for Merle to switch loyalties and help his brother in a critical moment as a kind of redemptive act, and also die in the process. That way there never has to be a reckoning at the hands of the group for the torture he committed.
  November 26, 2012 at 11:17AM EST
- ThatMatthew @Jondee Yep, that's the only way I see this shaking out.
  November 26, 2012 at 2:02PM EST
Joe

still cant really understand why the governor is so pressed about finding other groups... he already has his kingdom if they hadn't taken glenn and maggie the prison group wouldn't have had any reason to find them...
November 25, 2012 at 11:14PM EST Reply to Comment
- David Agreed.
  November 26, 2012 at 12:45AM EST
- Peter If you had your kingdom you would want to be proactive in defending it, not waiting until the threat is at the walls to find out about it.
  November 26, 2012 at 12:55AM EST
- HISLOCAL Also he's a megalomaniac.
  November 26, 2012 at 9:27AM EST
- Michael Dowling I think the Governors group is the "other group" talked about in the last season, the one whose guys Rick shot down in the bar.
  
  The Governor keeps his group going by sucking the resources and killing other groups.
  November 26, 2012 at 10:24AM EST
- Daniel I think this is logical, though it hasn't been set up right. Last season we got an inkling that this was now a dog eat dog world of social Darwinism (Ron Paul would be the perfect governor), and that while walkers were many and dumb, the real threat lay in those who had a working brain and could use it in the most brutal way possible.
  November 26, 2012 at 11:33AM EST
- apearlma Because an armed group that was equal to his group of people might do any number of things. How might that army group have reacted to seeing the Zombie fights or the walkers in storage? They might have decided to have a talk with the Governor - what if they then saw the wall of heads?
  
  That's not even the potential bad outcome where the armed group decides to simply takeover. The Governor keeps his group going by not offering any alternatives.
  
  Remember what Rick's group has now shown - they took down an entire prison of Walkers that Merle thought wasn't possible to do - if I were the Governor, Woodbury might be pretty, but it isn't very secure. An empty prison on the other hand would be a lot easier to defend or at the very least have as a resource if things got really bad.
  November 26, 2012 at 12:03PM EST
- JudyH There have been several indications that Woodbury is on shaky ground and that the Governor is maintaining an illusion of invincibility. Only those "in the know" are concerned about the generators, for instance, and what was with the talentless archer on the wall? (I suspect that she was maybe placed there simply to placate Andrea, as she didn't seem to know how to do anything other than follow orders blindly.)
  
  The Governor needs constant resupplies of food and fuel (and henchmen, apparently) to maintain the illusion of safety that keeps everyone from questioning his absolute power. I thought it was interesting that he focused on the fact that Merle's brother must be a key player in the group that had had success at the prison. Merle wouldn't have given Daryl that credit. And, as with many bad guys, he expects any foe to have equally base aspirations.
  November 26, 2012 at 1:11PM EST
- SlackerInc Michael, I don't believe that's the same group as Woodbury. They were from up north, "Philly" I thought.
  November 27, 2012 at 12:20AM EST
Jeff

It was clearly an episode just to move the expected big meeting between Rick and The Governor, but I was disappointed in the (almost expected by this point) weak dialogue and characterization of Michonne. I just think its lazy at this point to keep treating Michonne as some sort of snarling dog. Why bother bringing the baby formula and basically beg to be let in the prison, and than once entering the prison clammjng up and saying you dont need their help? Is it just me, or do they have no idea how to write this character?
November 25, 2012 at 11:15PM EST Reply to Comment
- Kato Yep, I was really hoping Michonne meeting the prison group would give the writers an opportunity to tell us more about her. I haven't read the comic and feel like I know nothing about this character (other than her obvious walker-fighting abilities).
  November 25, 2012 at 11:30PM EST
- Blackhoney Jeff, your comment is spot on. You said everything I have been thinking all season.
  
  November 25, 2012 at 11:44PM EST
- ron mexico Agreed - but for what it's worth, I think that Michonne will slowly start opening up again. She wasn't liable to open up while at Woodbury because she didn't trust anyone there, and she's barely been at the prison - and the screen time of her and Andrea prior to arriving to Woodbury was relatively minimal. I think there are some actresses who can communicate without much dialogue, but I'm not sure the actress playing Michonne is one of them - or she's getting direction that she needs to remain the snarling dog.
  November 26, 2012 at 12:05AM EST
- pat eakin I actually thought that Michonne seemed IMPRESSED by the Ricktatorship when they went into action in the woods. There was a shot of her lingering appreciation for T-Dogg 2.0 when he was taking out that walker.
  November 26, 2012 at 12:13AM EST
- Joe Rouse I also agree that Jeff's comments regarding Michonne are spot on. I am hopeful, however, that she will open up a bit, most likely exclusively to Rick's group. Michonne's observation of the heart-wrenching reunion scene between Carol and Rick suggests the fact that she (Michonne) feels more connected and therefore, willing to open up to these folks than those at Woodbury.
  November 26, 2012 at 10:29AM EST
- notWalt I think it was a good contrast, seeing both the Governer's town and Rick's prison through Michonne's eyes. The Governor made it appear like freedom, but she saw the lies. She saw Rick's mor honest approach even as she was put behind bars she understood there was more freedom at the prison.
  November 26, 2012 at 10:36AM EST
- Joe Rouse Well said, NOTWALT. A good dichotomy indeed that Michonne appreciates the "freedom," gazing at the behavior of Rick's group through the bars of a locked jail cell.
  November 26, 2012 at 10:42AM EST
- Dave I I can kind of see that. Michonne has a lot of potential, however they have inexplicably made her a walking enigma to the point that we really get nothing out of her.
  
  Of course, from a writing perspective, it would be hard for her to trust anybody. Especially when they took her weapon, locked her up, and held her at gun- (or crossbow-bolt) point. At least to an extent. Not sure why she was so short of words with Andrea, or why she is that way all the time.
  
  Mostly though, yeah, they've played the cool looking mysterious bad mofo walking trope too much. I hope Michonne is cool when she opens up. In the books she is certainly a more interesting character; still tough, yet has a history, talks to people, and at least in the comic she has more purpose. Here she just looks cool.
  
  I agree with Pat though that she seemed impressed with how well orchestrated the group was, in clearing the prison and in how they worked in waves against the zombies.
  
  -Cheers
  November 26, 2012 at 11:36AM EST
- Gwen I really love the show but do they have that much difficulty fleshing out african-american characters?? T-Dogg and now Michonne? They showed brilliant writing with the Morgan character. I would like some more development of both the prisoners. It is the character development that keeps the show fresh.
  November 26, 2012 at 11:42AM EST
- Dave I @Gwen, at least Michonne seems important. T-Dogg just seemed like an afterthought only to die a heroic death. The prisoner who is black seems to have potential.
  
  FWIW, pre-teen girls also seem to be similarly neglected.
  
  -Cheers
  November 26, 2012 at 1:37PM EST
- Darkdoug Guys, I hate to be the one to break it to you and I really hope it doesn't happen, but the black convict is basically wearing the Red Shirt. Look who's going in to the prison, Rick, who has Narrator Protection, fan-favorite Daryl, genuine bad-ass warrior chick, to rescue the lovable Glenn and aesthetic lead Maggie. The former convict is the most obviously expendable to Prove how Dangerous the situation is that the rest of them will escape.
  November 26, 2012 at 5:34PM EST
- Dave I DarkDoug, maybe. They are still at least making him interesting. Red Shirt or otherwise, they are putting some effort forth in him. After T-Dogg, that seems like an improvement. As for the Red-Shirt treatment, this is the type of show that I expect to have a pretty high turnover rate regardless.
  
  -Cheers
  November 26, 2012 at 7:07PM EST
- Kristen I thought Michionne trusted Rick more than the Governor from the get-go. He said, sorry, you can't leave. The governor told her she could go at any time. Michionne likes Rick's group. She'd never fight beside them otherwise.
  November 26, 2012 at 10:53PM EST
- SlackerInc At the end of the last episode, it looked like they were opening up her characterisation. But she definitely regressed this week, ugh.
  
  DarkDoug, so so well said, especially your clever use of capitalisation ("Prove how Dangerous").
  November 27, 2012 at 12:23AM EST
miki_turner

I too enjoyed seeing how impressed Michonne and the Gov were with Rick and company's work clearing out the prison. Kind of leads into the increased competence evidenced from last two seasons to this year.

Speaking of which, how about Glenn? While he has always shown his usefulness (making runs into two) and guts (agreeing to be dropped into a well with a walker), I guess his transformation into near-Darryl level bad-ass is nearly complete.

Great episode, and can't wait to see how wrap things up for the mid-season break.
November 25, 2012 at 11:15PM EST Reply to Comment
- Beekayz In previous weeks thread someone asked what was the point of the scene in last weeks episode when the girl with the bow kept missing when trying to debrain the zombies.
  
  I think it was to juxtapose the relative incompetence and softness of the people living in the Governors town when compared to the battle hardened warriors in Rick's dirty half-dozen.
  
  It makes it a bit more realistic in terms of Rick and Co.'s ability to carry out their mission while severely under-armed and undermanned.
  November 26, 2012 at 3:15AM EST
- HISLOCAL Yeah I think that we were all impressed with how battle-hardened they became in between seasons, and so they needed to show us that it's impressive to in-world characters, too. I dig it.
  November 26, 2012 at 9:29AM EST
- jim To me this is the difference between TWD and NBC`s Revolution. I did`nt know if Glen was going to make it out of that room, hell he still might not. There was a real threat there, on Revolution Charlie steps on a landmine. Was there any doubt she would live....none.
  November 26, 2012 at 3:56PM EST
- HISLOCAL Good point, Jim. I was pretty sure they wouldn't kill off Glenn so soon after T-Dawg and Lori, but not completely sure. I was on the edge of my seat the whole scene. It was really well done.
  
  Also, they did something that is usually reserved by better-scripted shows like Mad Men or Breaking Bad........they earned Glenn's "duct tape forearm" defense by showing a few weeks ago that walkers are unable to bite through an arm that's wrapped in duct tape.
  November 26, 2012 at 4:38PM EST
- Deetape Right on HISLOCAL about the Walter Koenig-like plant of the duct tape. Yeah!
  
  Next all I need to see is Herschel and the Governor's guy with glasses in a battle royal in the ring of toothless zombies!
  
  Hoe can you guys want Merle to go? Guy's got a blade for a hand. Get with the program, people.
  November 27, 2012 at 11:05PM EST
- Dan HISLOCAL, you're right about the duct tape foreshadowing... but I think Glen also used the arm of the chair to protect himself there, not just the duct tape.
  November 28, 2012 at 3:42PM EST
PNeville85

It was interesting to see that Merle's racism isn't gone completely. 2 Broke Girls would have been proud of his joke.
November 25, 2012 at 11:18PM EST Reply to Comment
- SlackerInc I don't know about the latter part, but the "spearchucker" comment was disgusting.
  November 27, 2012 at 12:25AM EST
- Froide Sure was disgusting. And so is Merle.
  
  BTW, I think he's an equal opportunity bigot who despises people of color, women, and those he perceives to be weaker than he. On the other hand, I think Merle ultimately respects anyone he can't best, and will eventually turn on the Governor and - grudgingly or not - help one or more members of Rick's group. But that switch won't come quickl or easily.
  November 27, 2012 at 7:05AM EST
Andrew

Brings baby formula to prison, tells Rick she didn't ask for help... Um... Anyone see a conflict of dialogue in Michonne?
November 25, 2012 at 11:20PM EST Reply to Comment
- Jeff I mentioned that in a comment earlier, really annoying to me how they write for this character.
  November 25, 2012 at 11:23PM EST
- Blackhoney The writing for Michonne is just awful. This episode's dialogue made no sense at all. Its almost as if they don't know what to do with her. Very frustrating to see such a great character being so totally underdeveloped and utilized.
  November 25, 2012 at 11:50PM EST
- Darkdoug I don't know. I think if she were male, everyone would be impressed at her stoic badassery. It's just because she's black and female that everyone seems to think she's being portrayed as an animal.
  
  It is sort of Lost-esque, how she's shorted them out of critical information (Andrea, Merle), however.
  November 26, 2012 at 5:36PM EST
- bbq_hax0r Michonne is pathetic. The show needs to put her out of her misery, unfortunately we're stuck with that scowling "badass!"(sarcasm) character which provides nothing to the show.
  November 26, 2012 at 8:58PM EST
- Philly yikes, she can't die soon enough for me , tired of these stereotypical characters, right outta central casting , like the large sassy black cartoon character from the animated movies , waiting for wanda sykes to show up...and always a racist redneck somewhere ..BS
  November 27, 2012 at 8:31PM EST
Tarasa

I am getting tired of the mime. So she is a strong silent type but it is a TV show and her character is getting old fast. Other than that and random log guy, it's good
November 25, 2012 at 11:27PM EST Reply to Comment
- SlackerInc It seems there is wide agreement that those two things marred an otherwise strong episode. But yeah, though, seriously: WTF was up with the hibernating hermit? That would have been a good scene in maybe the pilot or at least the first season.
  November 27, 2012 at 12:26AM EST
farside

Scariest moment of the episode was the banner that kept saying that AMC may be dropped from Fios. Please tell me this is a negotiating thing and that the chances of it happening are low.
November 25, 2012 at 11:33PM EST Reply to Comment
- chuckie We got the same message directed to Verizon customers. Standard AMC bullshit. Frankly, I won't miss if it goes away. Its two best shows are ending, and I'll catch up with Walking Dead on DVD. I hate that it's trying to use me as a pawn in its negotiations.
  November 26, 2012 at 12:16AM EST
Minmin

Indeed a transitional episode, but as Alan said, a successful one.

Of course Michonne remained mostly quiet: although we like to think that Rick and the Governor are different, Michonne's welcome was quite similar in both Woodbury and at the prison. She may have witnessed genuine caring among Rick's group, but it is reasonable of her to remain wary. And yet, she has opened up enough to tell Rick where to find Glen and Maggie, and to go with him to recover them.

While I found the subplot with Maxwell and the dying man unsatisfactory (even though I know where it must lead), I liked how the show cut between Glen and Maggie's torture, the search, and Andrea's strutting around Woodbury with a new sense of purpose, blind to the fact that her friends are nearby.

Did anyone else notice how the stretching of the phone in the previous episode became a kind of music in the endin scenes, including when Andrea and the governor embrace.
November 25, 2012 at 11:34PM EST Reply to Comment
- Minmin "scratching of the phone."
  November 25, 2012 at 11:35PM EST
- Chris totally agree. both groups took possession of her sword "for safekeeping" and stated that she'd be safe. while the Governor kept her in a figurative prison, Rick kept her in an actual, literal prison, complete with bars and locked doors. it is still frustrating that they haven't done more exposition on Michonne, but here they nailed it.
  November 26, 2012 at 4:07AM EST
- Danny Who is Maxwell? Milton Mamet is the telecommuting mad(or in this case mild) scientist.
  November 26, 2012 at 12:23PM EST
- Claude Maxwell is one of the prisoners and the black dude is Oscar, correct ?
  November 26, 2012 at 2:06PM EST
- bbq_hax0r Wait, Rick and Governor do similar things? No way! Rick is like totally awesome and teh Governor is a "dickhead" (according to fan boy Chris Hardwick). All of Rick's actions are completely justified whereas The Governor is just straight evil! D'uh.
  
  November 26, 2012 at 9:01PM EST
jack_is_laughing

This season has been much stronger than either of the first two, and I think overall the writers haven't fallen into the traps of the previous seasons. It's nice to see this show give these characters interesting opportunities to act rather than rattle off tired exposition that goes nowhere. As far as pacing and overall tension, this was a excellent episode.

That said, I can't actually believe that after all this time Rick and company would run off to Woodbury without questioning Michonne a bit further and developing some sort of plan. I also find it hard to believe Andrea hasn't told Michonne anything about her friends nor that Michonne wouldn't clue into that once she met them and learned their identities. They did spend many months together, and even if Michonne is nearly mute Andrea certainly must have talked about something other than the weather over eight months.

If anything, it's frustrating seeing the writers continue to write Rick, Daryl, and crew as being this stupid and impetuous.
November 25, 2012 at 11:44PM EST Reply to Comment
- Blackhoney I don’t agree, Jack_is_Laughing. I think this half season has been the weakest so far. Things started off bad with the 8 month time jump, which robbed us of a great deal of back story concerning Rick’s deteriorating relationship with his wife and Michonne’s relationship with Andrea. I also hate the way the Michonne character has been utilized. She is dangled in the fan’s faces and then pulled back. She gets very little face time and when she does she’s basically a mute who is reduced to giving us the stank face. I also hate the soap opera way the show moves along. We get bits and pieces of the good stuff, regularly interrupted with what seems like longer than usual commercials and filler material, aka, that whole Mr. Coleman nonsense. Lastly, I think the writers are killing off too many important characters and leaving us with people we, or at least I, don’t give a darn about. I am not a Maggie fan or a fan of any of the farm people. I think the writers are taking this whole “no one is safe” thing too far. This is television and you can’t keep killing off all your beloved characters- at least not before replacing them with other beloved characters.
  
  November 26, 2012 at 12:39AM EST
- jack_is_laughing Just out of curiosity, which "beloved" characters have they killed off? I liked T-Dawg but he was barely a scribble of a character. And if you think this season is too much of a "soap opera" how did you ever survive season 2?
  November 26, 2012 at 1:08AM EST
- jack_is_laughing I'll add: Shane was well-acted, but a character who needed to die. Lori wasn't hated by most fans, and it isn't surprising they got rid of her. Most fans of the show also disliked Dale, and I didn't see many people here complaining about it. I'm just not sure which of those are "beloved."
  November 26, 2012 at 1:10AM EST
- jack_is_laughing Crap, sorry. I meant to say "Lori was *hated* by most fans..."
  November 26, 2012 at 1:11AM EST
- binkibianca Who's to say that Michonne doesn't realize who this group is? She probably does. But as we have seen, she is not quick to spill her guts to strangers. Rick threatened her, Daryl had his weapon to her face...yeah I would think she would be less than talkative with them other than the facts about Glen and Maggie right now.
  November 26, 2012 at 2:48AM EST
- DALE IS AWESOME
  I thought Dale was a pretty lovable character.
  
  The one flaw was when he decided to hide all of the guns in a swamp, which is so ridiculously stupid it makes no sense at all that he'd ever do that. I blame the writers for that one. I don't believe Dale would have done that, and the writers screwed the character by making him appear that foolish. That is not Dale-Dale, in my book.
  November 26, 2012 at 2:50AM EST
- jack_is_laughing @binkibianca: But do you think it's reasonable that if she knew who these people were, and she knew they knew Andrea, that she wouldn't mention that Andrea is at Woodbury?
  November 26, 2012 at 3:01AM EST
- binkibianca There's so much we don't know. Andrea felt left behind didn't she? Who knows how she portrayed that information to Michonne. Maybe she thinks they didn't like Andrea and that her knowing her could be a liability. My point is we don't know. Everyone nitpicked on here last week about how Michonne knew where the prison was and then they easily explained that in this episode. Some things are just a wait and see.
  November 26, 2012 at 3:21AM EST
- Beekayz In addition, why didn't she mention that Merle had been talking to Glenn and Maggie about his brother being part of their group?
  
  Surely this is important intelligence that would help Rick plan for the rescue mission?
  November 26, 2012 at 3:22AM EST
- jack_is_laughing Glenn mentioning the prison's location was in the previous episode. It's not like tons of stuff happens off-camera or in flashback on this show, or that the writers don't love characters endlessly talking about things. If they didn't show it, it probably didn't happened.
  November 26, 2012 at 3:35AM EST
- HISLOCAL I kept waiting for her to say "they were taken by some redneck guy who claimed that they knew his brother"
  
  Actually, now that I think about it, maybe she knew that one of them was "dangerous redneck guy's" brother, and so she assumed our prison group is just as dangerous as Merle. I kinda wouldn't be surprised if she leads them to Woodbury and instigates a fight, and then just tries to get Andrea and run off in the commotion.
  November 26, 2012 at 9:41AM EST
- LarryC The writers might use the tenuous assumption that Michonne doesn't realize Rick's is Andrea's former group. OTOH she clearly knows from overhearing the confrontation between Merle and Glenn/Maggie that the group at the prison, Rick's, contains Merle's brother.
  
  But I agree with Hislocal: even if she knows both things there's no compelling logic for her to discuss either with Rick's group. She might mainly want another chance to save Andrea from what she now knows more concretely is an evil place. And Rick's group didn't need either piece of info to decide to try to penetrate Woodbury, thus helping Michonne get back to Andrea. They just needed the knowledge that that group kidnapped Glenn and Maggie, which is the info Michonne shared. Tipping off Darryl about his brother would have complicated that decision, to no benefit for Michonne.
  November 26, 2012 at 2:23PM EST
- bbq_hax0r "I also hate the soap opera way the show moves along."
  
  Except he yearns for the past 2 seasons which have literally been soap operas with zombies mixed in. We should def. go back to Rick mulling about the dumbest things for episodes on end!
  November 26, 2012 at 9:03PM EST
- SlackerInc Jack, I've seen so many people say that (that this season is stronger than last; although many of those people disagree with you about the first season). I still think the strongest stretch of episodes the show has seen started around the middle of last season (by "Nebraska" for sure, still probably the best single episode) and continuing until the end of the season. This season has been uneven IMO.
  November 27, 2012 at 12:32AM EST
- jack_is_laughing Slacker, I didn't like the middle two eps of season 1, but the others were good. As for season 2, I really admire the beginning and ending episodes of each half of the season but dislike most of the rest of them. I don't mind character development, but much of season 2 was endless back and forth melodramatic tedium with little to show for it. What we've seen of season 3 is now the same length as season 1, and I feel like more has happened in this season than all of season 2. I would agree that Michonne is a horribly written character, but otherwise I think they've done a much better job. Didn't love last week, but it was still more engaging than a lot of season 2.
  November 27, 2012 at 1:08AM EST
- SlackerInc Sounds like we might disagree most strongly on the latter episodes of Season 1. I hated the CDC stuff: found it incredibly cheesy. At the time I was trying to tell myself to give up on the show, but knew I would eventually weaken and go back to it, LOL.
  November 27, 2012 at 1:24AM EST
larcenous

I thought it was a great episode, overall. Very tense, great character development for Glen, Maggie, Carl, even Andrea and Michonne - though I agree the latter is still more of a plot twist than a character at this point.

But I have to say the entire thing was made much less enjoyable for me by that dude in the shack. Talk about your creaky, tissue-thin plot devices. I'm the kind of person who goes to the movies or good TV actively WANTING to suspend disbelief, to get caught up in the story. I tend to be pretty forgiving if the writing's noe Chekhov. So it's perhaps even more annoying for me than it might be for the average person, when I can see huge holes in the plot, when I can see the writers' gears turning, trying to get a story from point A where it is to point B where they want it to be

That guy in the shack was maybe this Shoq's most ham-handed plot device yet. What were we supposed to believe? Is it, as Alan said, that he'd been hibernating for even longer than Rick? I call BS. No one stays asleep - or even in a coma - for that long without care and nutrients. And even if somehow magically someone could, do you think he'd awaken with a gun in his hands, as alert as any of the rest of them? No way.

What, then? Are we to believe he's some kin of hick/hermit who's been awake this whole time, but is just so isolated (lives alone, presumably) that he just HASN'T NOTICED the zombie apocalypse happened seven months ago? Again, that strains credulity past te breaking point. Even living alone, this guy had no telephone? But he threatened to call the cops, so that can't be true. And the writers would have us believe that he never noticed no one calling for 7 months - and never picked it up himself and noticed his line was dead? No way.

Even if we assume the "call te cops" threat was a fake, and this recluse never had a phone, how likely is it that in seven months, he never ran across a single walker? I suppose there are places remote enough that if the zombie apocalypse happened, there would be so few people near there that one might never see a walker for months or longer. But not where the show says this guy lived. His place is directly between Woodbury and the prison - that's why Rick's group stumbled on it. Both those places - as well as the woods around them - are FULL of walkers. And the writers wish us to believe Joe Hermit never encountered ONE? Again, BS.

That house was occupied because they needed someone the group could throw to the walkers. We've all seen the zombie movies, from Romero on up, where the small group gets trapped in a small house/barn:shack which is then surrounded by dozens if not hundreds of zombies, with more showing up all the time because of the noise. That's exactly what happened to Rick, Daryl, et. al. And there wasn't any easy way out of it. Shooting their way out might have been possible, but doing it without losing at LEAST one member would've been unbelievable, too. So in the end, the writers chose to cop out and put a Star Trek red shirt guy there to take the fatal phaser blast...Er, I mean, be devoured by zombies so Rick & Co could get away and on to Woodbury unscathed. It was a real clinker in an otherwise great episode.
November 25, 2012 at 11:56PM EST Reply to Comment
- Bill My assumption was that the guy was just crazy. You spend 10 months with nothing but walking corpses for company and you might lose touch with reality.
  November 26, 2012 at 12:02AM EST
- Jay Cjay The thing with the guy in the house is, it wasn't even necessary. They're heading out to rescue a couple of their members, but first let's toss a little unimaginative obstacle in the way.
  
  That diversion added nothing to the story, so why bother to toss it in? Just to run out the clock so the episode would end with the party getting to the town's walls, I guess.
  November 26, 2012 at 2:06AM EST
- jack_is_laughing Yeah, there's no way he could be living in woods so infested with walkers without having some clue. He was sleeping with his shotgun and his dog was dead, so I figured he'd gone nutso too.
  
  It was 95% pointless, except for the part where they learned how quick to violent action Michonne is. There was that.
  November 26, 2012 at 2:50AM EST
- Beekayz I'd say Bill got it right. The guy was obviously crazy and completely delusional.
  
  Who else would leave a dead dog rotting in their one room cabin for god knows how long or threaten to call the police?
  
  November 26, 2012 at 3:26AM EST
- HISLOCAL I was thinking that he's a crazy recluse to begin with, and then suddenly there's hordes of crazy people trying to break into his house and eat him for 8 months, so it just solidifies his belief that the world is out to get him. Seems plausible, even though I admit it's paper-thin.
  
  Also, I don't think he was sleeping, I think he was hiding under the blanket.
  November 26, 2012 at 9:44AM EST
- jim Agree with everything you said. I actually rolled my eyes at that. Never have I rolled my eyes at this show but that could not be helped. I also find it bullshit that the Gov`s people never found this shack or this guy?
  November 26, 2012 at 10:26AM EST
- BigRoll Just very lazy writing, if they needed someone to throw to the zombies have Rick's crew run into one of the Gov's people who wandered too far away. With some setup, it would be much more believable. Sometimes these writers aren't keen on working the small details.
  November 26, 2012 at 10:45AM EST
- miraclemet Not that it answers all the questions about the Cabin Coot, but they made a point to show all the cannery jars around the pot belly stove when Rick's team first entered. I think their intent was to show that this guy "could" have gotten buy w/o having to leave his cabin. So maybe he knew what was out there and was "holed up"... doesnt answer everything, but I think that was the intent of the one shot in the cabin.
  November 26, 2012 at 11:23AM EST
- Andrew1073 Anyone else notice that the dead dog did not turn? Is this disease only for humans than? Perhaps test animals to find out why they are not effected? Haven't seen one zombie animal anywheres...
  November 26, 2012 at 12:43PM EST
- JudyH I was half-expecting them to discover that the coot was a now-insane survivalist with a huge cache of weapons and ammo hidden in a pit. And I could've sworn I spotted a corpse hanging upside down, in addition to the dead dog ...
  November 26, 2012 at 1:31PM EST
- Mark in Omaha Agree with all the points plus I dislike when people spin out theories on how or why this or that could somehow be plausible...
  SOOO I tried to come up with some kind of "plausible" explanation and thought maybe the Govenor's people put or left him in the cabin to draw Walkers/Biters to the area? They did mention a "red zone" in the previous episode.
  
  That was the first dog they have shown in 2 1/2 seasons.
  November 26, 2012 at 1:43PM EST
- Andrew1073 meh, it was just a thought, pardon me.
  November 26, 2012 at 2:03PM EST
- Beekayz Mark in Omaha: I saw what you did there! :)
  Andrew1073: Mark wasn't having a go at you. Have another read of what he wrote.
  November 26, 2012 at 4:57PM EST
- SlackerInc It was completely ridiculous. I can't imagine what they were even thinking, honestly.
  November 27, 2012 at 12:34AM EST
Bill

Science guy needs the walker to be able to raise one of its hands, so he unties both of them? Do some people just want to get eaten?
November 25, 2012 at 11:59PM EST Reply to Comment
- Brendan Noel I think it was Alan who said on an episode of Firewall and Iceberg that so much of the plot development on this show is the result of characters doing the dumbest thing possible. That was when I finally realized what it was about The Walking Dead that really irritated me and made me grow tired of it very quickly. And yet...still watching.
  November 26, 2012 at 3:09AM EST
- Beekayz From what I could see, he only unbuckled the right wrist restraint.
  November 26, 2012 at 3:30AM EST
- Bill @BEEKAYZ, I'd need to watch the scene again. For some reason, I thought he'd unbound both.
  November 26, 2012 at 6:24AM EST
- HISLOCAL Pretty sure it was just the right hand.
  
  That being said, they've presented Milton as a super-smart, very practical science guy. So why would he be so consumed with proving his theory? I could see that kind of logic break coming from the Governor, who desperately wants to save his daughter (which is obviously why he has Milton doing this experiment in the first place), but Milton has so far been extremely practical, so his desperate need to get the answer he wanted wasn't really true to the character that we've seen so far.
  
  Seems like the scene would have been better off with the Governor desperately unstrapping the guy, while Milton is the one advising him not to.
  November 26, 2012 at 9:47AM EST
- Michael Dowling I really thought science guy needed to die for his stupidity. I think it also shows how soft and removed from all this the residents of Woodbury are. They will shortly be unpleasantly surprised. If places like the CDC and other military installations are being overrun a few tires and parked cars aren't going to hold out Woodbury forever.
  November 26, 2012 at 10:34AM EST
- Dave I I think @BeeKayz is right. Science guy undid one buckle, zombie immidiately lurches at breakneck speed to bite him. My thought was, you KNOW that is what he is going to do. Why not just secure his chest if you are going to untie his hand?
  
  -Cheers
  November 26, 2012 at 11:48AM EST
- Lisa Has science guy lived in Woodbury the entire time? Did the Governor find him already there, holed up?
  November 26, 2012 at 12:12PM EST
- Beekayz "That being said, they've presented Milton as a super-smart, very practical science guy. So why would he be so consumed with proving his theory?"
  Hislocal: Maybe because the Guv desperately wants it to be true and, as has already been shown, people will move heaven and earth to please the Governor (or in Merle's case, lie to make it seem that the Governor's will has been done)?
  November 26, 2012 at 5:02PM EST
PNeville85

In the opening scene, you can see a head in the ceiling/wall watching Merle talk to Glenn. Could anybody tell who that was?
November 26, 2012 at 12:06AM EST Reply to Comment
kteemac

Best moment of the show -- the "sponsored by KFC" moment immediately following the scene with the zombies chowing down on log-cabin-hermit guy.
November 26, 2012 at 12:07AM EST Reply to Comment
- apearlma Yeah, that was awesome. Quite possibly the most poorly timed commercial ever. Lots of gore and blood followed by ad for chicken.
  November 26, 2012 at 1:06AM EST
- Solid Muldoon They say that human flesh tastes like chicken. Which means, of course, that chicken tastes like human flesh.
  November 26, 2012 at 1:51AM EST
- No... No, they say human flesh tastes like pork. Some cannibalistic societies used to call human "long pork". It's everything else that tastes like chicken. We taste like bacon. Delicious, delicious bacon.
  November 26, 2012 at 3:02AM EST
- notWalt Finger lickin' good !!
  November 26, 2012 at 10:43AM EST
- Lisa My husband and I laughed about that too. We then wondered (jokingly) if TWD had inspired anyone to become a vegetarian.
  November 26, 2012 at 12:11PM EST
GarySF

Can;t wait to pick up Michonne's essential business book, How to Win Friends and Influence People.
November 26, 2012 at 12:29AM EST Reply to Comment
- Danny Also looking forward to Maggie's Houdini-esque book How To Put On A Bra While Duct-taped To A Chair. I don't remember if she was wearing one when her and Glenn were captured, but she definitely wasn't wearing one in the first scene shot from behind. I've already deleted my DVR copy, but now that I think about it, I think she may have had a different style top too.
  November 26, 2012 at 12:49PM EST
- Lee Since we're on the subject of ladies' underwear, I was a bit startled by Andrea's dainty white undies. I wondered how she was able to keep them laundered and fresh after nine months in the wilderness hiding from walkers/biters or whatever they're calling them this week. Or did she get them from the Woodbury Bloomingdales or the Governor's private stash?
  November 26, 2012 at 2:30PM EST
- bbq_hax0r I agree.
  November 26, 2012 at 9:09PM EST
John

It seems as if the zombie genre, a relatively new genre, is consuming itself with the same cliches and tropes. I don't know, after seeing so much of this genre, I just can't help but see them pop off the screen. I don't know if its just a lack of originality, creativity or just poor writing, with writers ripping off earlier ideas. For example, how many times are we going to see the "zombie experimentation to see if we can either control them or bring back their humanity" trope? This is ripped off from Romero's "Day of the Dead" with Bub, and even "The Dead Next Door." Or the good human gang vs. the bad human gang, ripped off from "Dawn of the Dead." And why are the leaders of these human groups always despots? I have not read the comics, but I can see where the experiment storyline is going - the governor wants to somehow "save" or "revive" his dead daughter, which is such a cliche, that it was already done on the show with Herschel, ready to be recycled again.
November 26, 2012 at 12:43AM EST Reply to Comment
- HISLOCAL I get what you're saying, but it seems like these are all things that would actually happen in an event like this.
  
  Not to be all smarmy, but it's like saying "Aw man, another cop show where they interrogate suspects and make arrests.....can't they just beam them into space with a chicken laser?" - It's just something that is inherent to the genre.
  
  P.S. - remind me to copyright "chicken laser" for future use.
  November 26, 2012 at 9:55AM EST
- Dave I With The Governor's daughter, the zombie experimentation makes a lot of sense. Yes, you get a lot of regurgitated ideas and ripoffs from earlier works, even inconsistencies (slow-zombies from season-one with the speed-walkers that have shown up since). In this case, I thought the science experiment worked. First, I can see the Gov. being obsessed with trying to save/salvage what he can with his daughter. Second, this sort of shows the experimenting with the zombie immediately after it turns. It is also more elaborate since they tried it with certain cues to who he was; pictures, sounds, music, etc. So I actually liked that. Well, until the idiotic "let's untie him" moment.
  
  -Cheers
  November 26, 2012 at 11:54AM EST
James

Michone was shot in the femur area - shouldn't she have bled to death in a couple of minutes? But instead, she walks around like she just got stung by a bee.
November 26, 2012 at 12:44AM EST Reply to Comment
- randy no.. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Femoral_artery
  November 26, 2012 at 1:46AM EST
- Mick Yes, femoral injuries are highly dangerous, and I was a former medic, so I should know.
  November 26, 2012 at 2:03AM EST
- Elevation Michonne doesn't act like a normal human being. I wouldn't expect the writers to have her hurt like a normal human being either.
  November 26, 2012 at 3:21AM EST
- Dr Feelgood The shot was a through and through. Watch the shooting again, you can see. Probably some muscle damage, maybe nerve damage/loss of sensation. No major vessel damage. Unlikely to have been bone involvement. So her recovery is not that far beyond belief.
  November 26, 2012 at 3:57AM EST
- bbq_hax0r Elevation is right as usual... she is a cyborg! That explains for the lack of human emotion, constant scowl, and uber ninja moves. If the most logical conclusion!
  November 26, 2012 at 9:11PM EST
Zach

I like how Michone got shot in the hip, but in a matter of hours, is able to walk around without nary a hobble, to assault an armed compound. And I'm assuming without painkillers.Also, I didn't realize that hip shots bleed little.
November 26, 2012 at 12:48AM EST Reply to Comment
- jack_is_laughing Look how fast Carl was up and moving after nearly dying from a gun shot wound. The zombie plague apparently has made the living more resilient and faster healers.
  November 26, 2012 at 2:53AM EST
Timmy

I know you have to suspend a bit of belief watching this show, but as a former service member, it irks me to no end to see a little kid, with no real prior weapons training, get two perfect headshots within a space of several seconds, on two moving targets, bending over no less. I was a very good marksman, but I would still have trouble hitting a perfect bullseye on a non moving target, 50 meters away, with a nine millimeter Beretta.
November 26, 2012 at 1:16AM EST Reply to Comment
- Jay Cjay Everyone in the group gets perfect head shots, every time. Whenever those shooting scenes begin, I find myself just repeating in my head "headshot... headshot... headshot... headshot..."; I don't know how I'd react if any of them ever missed.
  
  Nags the hell out of me, as someone who has done a fair amount of shooting with rifles, shotguns, and handguns... and with a bit of exposure archery.
  
  Actually, I was relieved last week when the young woman with Andrea on the wall couldn't hit a walker. For just a moment, a shooting scene on the show was believable!
  November 26, 2012 at 1:59AM EST
- Jay Cjay That is, specifically, if it's not clear: the woman with the compound bow.
  November 26, 2012 at 2:01AM EST
- Who farted not me stop asking
  The constant headshots are unbelievable, but I am willing to overlook it.
  
  With Carl though, I think it is implied he underwent a lot of training during the gap between seasons 2 and 3. In Season 3 episode 1 he is clearing the house of walkers along with Rick, Daryl, and T-Dawg. He's had a lot of practice over the winter.
  November 26, 2012 at 2:52AM EST
- jack_is_laughing That woman on the wall missed one headshot because the walker sort of leaned to the side, and I thought the second arrow sort of bounced off of him. My impression was that she wasn't nearly as good as she implied she was, so Andrea did it the easy way.
  November 26, 2012 at 2:55AM EST
- Kensington Carl played a lot of Resident Evil in the old days.
  November 26, 2012 at 3:41AM EST
- HISLOCAL It's tough to judge a show's depiction of something you are an expert in. Like, I work in an office and I cringe whenever a show talks about "payroll meetings" with "Bob from accounting"......that's absolutely nothing like what a desk job is like. What would you talk about in a payroll meeting? "Did everyone get their paycheck this week?" "Yes" "Ok, see you at the next payroll meeting" - my point is, TV writers don't know the ins and outs of every subject that comes up on a show.
  
  That being said, the constant headshots are unrealistic even to me, but I think it's the writer's shorthand for demonstrating to us that this group is way above average at taking out walkers.
  November 26, 2012 at 10:04AM EST
- Michael Dowling As a former service member I'm surprised you didn't take more of an issue with the Governor and his motley crew being able to take out what looked to be a well equipped, well trained, army squad.
  
  In reality there is no way the governors guys get that close to them without them knowing they would've had a perimeter set up, and the split second the Governor pulled a gun he would've had about 30 rounds in him.
  
  The head shots are ridiculous and over the top I agree, but really with a little bit of training you can become wicked accurate with a pistol, rifle, and box. Within 20 minutes with a compound bow I could hit a quarter from 30 yards. With a rifle I can hit softball from five football fields with open sites.
  November 26, 2012 at 10:41AM EST
- Dave I @Timmy & @Michael . . . Yes. Both of those bother me. Similarly, Herschel's Magical Shotgun that never ran out of ammo when the farm got overrun.
  
  Michael, I'm not as good as you. Still, I'm decent with a pistol. I think I could hit head shots. Not ever time though. Certainly not at the rates and distances they seem to be making them on moving/lurching targets. Try shooting that softball when it's rolling even a little slowly, or that quarter if it's spinning across a table.
  
  This is just one of those times when a modicum of realism, subtlety, and the occasional missed shot or mishap would make this less like Revolution or Resident Evil and more like a survival-horror sort of show. I suppose on the opposite end of the spectrum is G.I. Joe? Man, those guys never hit squat!
  
  -Cheers
  November 26, 2012 at 12:01PM EST
- SlackerInc Jay, I too welcomed the scene with the Olympic archery woman who missed a couple tricky shots. Like you I thought "finally--believable"! But instead the intended takeaway (or at least what everyone seems to have posted) is "man, she completely sucks".
  November 27, 2012 at 12:41AM EST
- Bryan L @ Michael Dowling: I found the Governor's ambush of the soldiers completely unrealistic, and posted as much. Soldiers I know would NEVER have gotten suckered like that and slaughtered to a man. And no, I don't care if they were National Guard or whatever other excuse people make -- they'd have still had a perimeter established, guards posted, etc. The Governor would have lost a LOT of people taking them down. If they wanted to show how vicious the Governor is, they should have had him take out another group of survivors, not trained and armed soldiers.
  November 27, 2012 at 10:58AM EST
- SlackerInc I have not served in the military and don't know all the details about establishing a perimeter and so on. And the Governor did establish trust with passing the message from the pilot, which could have led them to let their guard down a bit. However, I always thought it was ridiculous for him to set up an ambush where he was the one out in the open, first to draw his gun and fire. Whether his hidden confederates would have gotten killed can be argued, but it always struck me as a plan that made him the most likely to be riddled full of bullets. It strikes me as about as sensible as Ike assigning himself the job of being the first to wade ashore on the beaches of Normandy.
  November 27, 2012 at 11:07AM EST
- Michael Dowling @ slackerinc - People said "man, she completely sucks" because she did. Have you shot a compound bow before? to outright miss a target that large multiple times from within 20 yards is difficult to do.
  November 27, 2012 at 11:08AM EST
Rog

I know this would be a radical departure, but why not do a episode that is light and humorous in nature? This is something that is lacking in this constant dread and fear fest. How long can one take characters brooding around non-stop? Maybe do an episode with Rick organizing some kind of sports game to keep the morale of the group up and to keep them united, with walkers as their onlooking "fans." I think this would be funny and light.
November 26, 2012 at 1:54AM EST Reply to Comment
- You must be joking No.
  November 26, 2012 at 2:52AM EST
- Steve
  Would not fit with the style of this show at all.
  November 26, 2012 at 2:53AM EST
- Brendan Noel Only if Andy Bernard's character from "Threat Level Midnight" is there to say "Hey, we got sports games again!"
  November 26, 2012 at 3:04AM EST
- MBKeaton Interesting to bring this up, since I can hardly think of another drama where a lighter, comedic episode would be more out of place. Even in the most hardboiled shows like The Wire and Deadwood and such there is plenty of room for levity. Characters in this show really don't get a chance for anything to do anything other than brood and suffer.
  November 26, 2012 at 3:51AM EST
- jim There was a bit of humour when Carl told his dad that Darryl has been calling the baby lil ass-kicker. RICK FUCKIN SMILED!!!! Then it was quickly over.
  November 26, 2012 at 10:44AM EST
- notWalt Yeah, and Lost needed to spend more time on Jack's tattoos! (not!)
  November 26, 2012 at 10:47AM EST
- Lisa Only if Hurley joins the cast and builds a golf course. ;)
  November 26, 2012 at 12:17PM EST
- SlackerInc Rog, I seem to be in the minority but I really like that idea!
  November 27, 2012 at 12:43AM EST
- Answermancer I find it hard to believe that any of you think he wasn't kidding with that comment.
  
  "with walkers as their onlooking 'fans.'" didn't tip you off that he wasn't serious?
  November 27, 2012 at 7:45PM EST
- SlackerInc Maybe so, but I think it would still be nice to have some lighter fare mixed in from time to time.
  November 27, 2012 at 8:20PM EST
- Daniel Faraday Hey Rog, you stole my line, man ;>.. I was thinking the same thing. Just a few time, this show needs some humor: not to lighten the plot, but to let us audience feel more compassion for the characters. It's not about comedy: it's about irony, wit between us and the characters.
  
  Can you imagine just a little of Hurley in TWD?? Like when the random cabin guy woke up and rick said 'walkers' , imagine him saying 'walkers?? They're zombies!" and like saying to everybody "why don't you call 'em zombies?".. And why they never in the show set up a gag with someone facing a star turned into a zombie?? Like someone refuses to kill a walker because that's Michael Jordan! .. Imagine Hurley: "I've just smashed Michael Jordan's brain, dude!"
  
  The point is that in narrative, sometimes the emotional arc needs to be stretch; imho that's something this show needs.
  November 28, 2012 at 6:57PM EST
- SlackerInc I dig that they don't use the word "zombies", but I do agree with your point overall. Having Hurley around would be great, and I would love "walker" celebrities!
  November 29, 2012 at 1:55AM EST
sas

Michone is such a stupid character - a product of poor writing. For example, she complains to the group that she didn't ask for their help in the first place. Then why the hell did she come to the prison, carrying supplies, with that "help me please" look across her face? Stupid.
November 26, 2012 at 1:56AM EST Reply to Comment
- Jay Cjay I guess I could accept that someone might need help from someone, but not be able to actually *admit* it. Though that wouldn't be a trait I'd expect in what is supposedly a person of strength and courage.
  November 26, 2012 at 2:03AM EST
- Froide I dislike the way Michonne's being written, too, but interpret her behavior at the prison this way: she's become so self-reliant and battle-hardened that she was embarrassed to have been found in the exact same state in which she found Andrea months before - compromised healthwise and sure to be killed by zombies if she weren't rescued.
  
  Also, Michonne must have endured a world of hurt before we met her, which explains why she acts so much like loner Jim (who'd lost his entire family and became very taciturn and closed off) and earlier Daryl (who was abused and lashed out at Carol - the person who most tried to reach out to him - when they were on the farm).
  
  Finally, Michonne likely learned that proving oneself worthy in this battle-hardened, post-apocalyptic world requires demonstrating one can handle oneself and maintaining a tough-person street cred demeanor.
  November 26, 2012 at 7:15AM EST
- notWalt I think refusing help is a reflex for her and probably reinforced by the time with the Governor.
  
  But agree completely that the character is underdeveloped. This is a problem sometimes with a comic-book character that can pull off mysterious and brooding in a comic book, but needs more development in live-action.
  November 26, 2012 at 10:50AM EST
- Dave I @NotWalt, I can agree that her refusing help is reflexive. However, I think the character is more developed in the book. Or at least she lets you know more about herself. I can see her being tight-lipped with Rick & Co. She just met them. To have seen her with Rick AND with Andrea and still as an audience know next to nothing about her? That seems a bit harder to swallow.
  
  In the books, she is much more multi-dimensional and you see a little bit about what's behind the dreadlocks. Hopefully she is not lacking development so much as they are just being too slow in showing what they have in her and it will get better.
  
  -Cheers
  November 26, 2012 at 12:05PM EST
Robert

Poor writing strikes again - the writers cannot maintain consistency with their zombie rules. If I recall correctly, Shane shot Otis in the leg, because as explained later, the zombies only eat live prey. But now, we have characters feeding dead bodies to the zombies, and the zombies eating the dead body, as if those rules never applied. Also, we see this with Lori's dead body.
November 26, 2012 at 2:11AM EST Reply to Comment
- Jacob That rule still stands. The guy was literally killed less than 10 seconds beforehand. You can pretty much infer that the zombies are not smart enough - or even biologically able enough - to distinguish between a live body, and a corpse that is a few minutes 'old'.
  
  With Lori, yeah, there was probably a longer time between her getting eaten, but it was still depicted to be within a very brief time period post-mortem. Now, if the zombies come across a day old corpse, I doubt they'd be setting the dinner table. Both Lori and crazy guy's bodies are not an example of poor writing, and actually do adhere to the established rules.
  
  If you want poor writing, please see: Michone and T-Dog.
  November 26, 2012 at 2:25AM EST
- Kensington He may not have been dead, yet; he may simply have been incapacitated and dying.
  November 26, 2012 at 3:42AM EST
- JK @Jacob Okay, but Otis would have been just as fresh if Shane shot him. He was barely ahead of the zombie herd.
  November 26, 2012 at 3:56AM EST
- HISLOCAL Ok, so Shane didn't kill him. Maybe some guys would knock a guy out and let him die in a burning building, and other guys would shoot the guy in the head and let his body burn up instead. Tomato, ToMAHto.
  
  In both cases, the blood was fresh so the zombies went after it.
  November 26, 2012 at 10:10AM EST
- notWalt Agree with Jacob.... but remember also that any one dying without a head-shot would turn relatively quickly into a zombie, so it seems like most dead people would be fresh enough before they turned. SO the 'rule' is a bit confusin.
  November 26, 2012 at 10:55AM EST
- Michael Dowling That's just what Shane thought at the time, things change as you're more exposed to this stuff. Shane doesn't' right the rules it's just what he did at the time because of what he knew at the time. At one point they didn't know that everyone resurrects as a zombie either.
  November 26, 2012 at 11:02AM EST
binkibianca

I had said before that the tea that the scientist guy makes is Jim Jones-ish to me. i definitely chuckled when Michonne said that The Governor is a Jim Jones type lol
November 26, 2012 at 2:16AM EST Reply to Comment
Brendan Noel

Man, as much as this is the best season ever, the bar is really low. They've smoothed out some significant rough edges from season 2, but there still isn't another show on TV with as many characters that make me practically yell "Are you a bleeping idiot?" at the screen.
November 26, 2012 at 3:02AM EST Reply to Comment
Elevation

Tonight's episode was stupid. I don't know why we had to devote so much time to seeing the scientist guy's enlightenment about the zombies not having feelings. We all knew what was going to happen. Why even bother? I refuse to believe someone could have been around that long in the zombie uprising and still not see someone turn into the undead. That whole story would have been a better use of time in Season 1.

The crazy guy in the hut was a bit unbelievable too. Somehow we were supposed to believe that the guy was able to keep himself alive for a year in a zombie Apocalypse, but he was still mentally quacked enough to believe you could call the cops?

Come on. Wish this show had competent writing.
November 26, 2012 at 3:14AM EST Reply to Comment
Nathaniel

I am tired of the whole "rules of infection", or better yet, the lack of them.

Michonne is covered in zombie guts and blood, but chooses to touch her wound with her bloody hands.

So. In this show you only become a zombie if you get literally, bitten? Everything else seems pretty ok to do.
November 26, 2012 at 5:27AM EST Reply to Comment
- anon No. You only become a zombie when you die (from any means that does not destroy the brain). Bites from zombies appear to cause death from some type of infection, or just general loss of blood/massive injuries.
  
  Nothing ever implied this was "28 Days Later" infection rules where a drop of infected blood causes a person to turn. In fact, the show demonstrated that contact with infected blood (albeit presumably not contact to an open wound) was not a method of turing back in episode one.
  November 26, 2012 at 8:55AM EST
- HISLOCAL Right......it was explicitly stated that everyone on earth is already infected, and you become a zombie after you die, no matter how you die, unless your brain is destroyed.
  
  So, presumably, T-Dogg could have survived his initial bite on the shoulder as long as they stopped the bleeding, and Michonne could have sutured her leg with zombie teeth with no consequences.
  November 26, 2012 at 10:13AM EST
- miraclemet Zombie bites/scratches seem to cause a fever that causes death and then reanimation.
  
  Something in the bite activates the disease that is (acording to the CDC guy in S1) sitting dormant in everyone.
  
  It can also be activated by dying in any non-brain destroying way) i.e. Shane being shot in S2.
  
  T-dogg once bitten could not have been saved, because there's no way to isolate the body part with the zombie infection. Amputating the bitten part immediately works (Hershel's leg being an example).
  
  There were the two non-bitten walkers in S2E10 that might have been turned by scratches, or might have been turned when they died of natural causes.
  
  With the amount of "close quarters" fighting with zombies that has happened its hard to imagine that a scratch could lead to turning, but then why would Michonne cut off the arms of her two walkers?
  November 26, 2012 at 11:37AM EST
- Froide RE: but then why would Michonne cut off the arms of her two walkers?
  
  She removed their arms and lower jaws so they couldn't harm her. Remember how the zombie at Hershel's farm gutted Dale with his fingers?
  November 26, 2012 at 12:14PM EST
- miraclemet good point, forgot about their ability to finger gut people....
  November 26, 2012 at 12:31PM EST
- SlackerInc As the replies to your comment show, there are different theories about this, and the writers have not kept it clear. So your point is well taken.
  November 27, 2012 at 12:53AM EST
Bodie'sHoodFlip

Did anybody find the raging hoard of 10 feeble bush walkers outside the house a lot less intimidating then dozens /maybe hundreds of muscle headed prisoners in pitch black corridors? These impressive 'red zone' migrants ran away through the woods like scared wimps. And while I'm on it... Why don't these people have a kill system established yet where they tandem up and hit legs and heads...or whatever perfected tactics they have had ample time and victims to develop?
November 26, 2012 at 6:21AM EST Reply to Comment
jim

I have two quick questions, was the chopper that Rick saw in the first episode the same one that crashed in season 3? Second it would appear the good people of Woodbury did`nt know there were people in the prison until last night. If that`s the case then who was spying on Carol during the practise c-section?
November 26, 2012 at 8:55AM EST Reply to Comment
- Huell Goodman I think it was supposed to be the same chopper, but there's no confirmation of that.
  
  The watcher was Andrew, the prisoner who let the zombies into the prison.
  November 26, 2012 at 9:29AM EST
- Froide Last week, someone wrote that it was confirmed on "Talking Dead" that Andrew was watching Carol. I don't watch "TD", and so I was (and kinda still am) under the impression there could be other live folks out there to contend with.
  November 26, 2012 at 12:16PM EST
Huell Goodman

Anyone else put off by the thumping soundtrack? I found it quite distracting, particularly in the Glen vs. zombie scene. It was so overbearing, like something from an old, cheap horror film.
November 26, 2012 at 9:25AM EST Reply to Comment
- notWalt I actually thought it was effective, but it could get annoying if they overuse it.
  November 26, 2012 at 11:00AM EST
Mike Dowling

I liked the episode, I definitely think it did a good job setting the table for next weeks mid-season finale. The pace of this season is much better, there is no shortage of story to this story so there was no need to spend 8 weeks doing nothing on a farm. It looks like they learned their lesson. But of course here is where I list the things I didn't like

Carol's triumphant return, they simply never did much with her character through the series so when they found her I was like mehhh... If felt like they were making this huge climactic scene but they never got there because we don't really connect with this character.

Again Michonne was weird, she goes from telling them "find them yourself" to just telling them she can get them inside. I'm not sure what happened here, I mean Rick grabbed her leg a bit but that wasn't really a factor.

Woodbury still makes no sense to me, I don't understand why they haven't been over-run or at least attempted to be overrun yet. Everywhere else has including incredibly secure military installations. I also think they don't have it together nearly as well as they think they do. I think the girl with the terrible bow skills was a tipper to what happens next week. I don't think Woodbury does well against Rick and his crew, although some will die. I also wonder if the Governor's group was the "other" group that was always near Rick's group, the one whose members Rick shot down in the bar.

And lastly if Rick always acted like this I bet him and Shane would've gotten along swimmingly.

November 26, 2012 at 9:56AM EST Reply to Comment
- Froide Carol's return provides a ray of hope for the group, which maybe helps explain why they'd take their top guys on a life-threatening crusade to try and rescue Glenn and Maggie from a well-armed, larger group. Also, Carol's presence further glues Daryl to Rick's group, which might become important when Daryl and Merle's primary loyalties (to each other v. to their respective groups) get tested.
  
  I'm wondering, too, if Merle might encounter and underestimate Carol later, because he knew her as a battered woman with low self-esteem and now that's far from her new persona.
  
  November 26, 2012 at 12:24PM EST

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Comments

Option 1

Option 2

Option 3

Bridget Carol being found plays an huge part in whether or not Daryl sticks with the Team Prison. Her return makes the otherwise unsympathetic Daryl more apt to stick with his group regardless of Merle's existence. (and with them being two of my favorite characters, I'm thankful for this)

binkibianca I can't stand Merle but I definitely agree with you about this. I think he's going to align with Rick's group during the show down

notWalt I can't see Merle being allowed back on Team Rick, certainly not if Glen and Maggie survive, and if Michonne id's him. There' a little more coward in that bully than we saw in season 1.

ThatMatthew @Jondee Yep, that's the only way I see this shaking out.

Joe still cant really understand why the governor is so pressed about finding other groups... he already has his kingdom if they hadn't taken glenn and maggie the prison group wouldn't have had any reason to find them...

David Agreed.

Peter If you had your kingdom you would want to be proactive in defending it, not waiting until the threat is at the walls to find out about it.

HISLOCAL Also he's a megalomaniac.

Michael Dowling I think the Governors group is the "other group" talked about in the last season, the one whose guys Rick shot down in the bar.The Governor keeps his group going by sucking the resources and killing other groups.

SlackerInc Michael, I don't believe that's the same group as Woodbury. They were from up north, "Philly" I thought.

Kato Yep, I was really hoping Michonne meeting the prison group would give the writers an opportunity to tell us more about her. I haven't read the comic and feel like I know nothing about this character (other than her obvious walker-fighting abilities).

Blackhoney Jeff, your comment is spot on. You said everything I have been thinking all season.

pat eakin I actually thought that Michonne seemed IMPRESSED by the Ricktatorship when they went into action in the woods. There was a shot of her lingering appreciation for T-Dogg 2.0 when he was taking out that walker.

notWalt I think it was a good contrast, seeing both the Governer's town and Rick's prison through Michonne's eyes. The Governor made it appear like freedom, but she saw the lies. She saw Rick's mor honest approach even as she was put behind bars she understood there was more freedom at the prison.

Joe Rouse Well said, NOTWALT. A good dichotomy indeed that Michonne appreciates the "freedom," gazing at the behavior of Rick's group through the bars of a locked jail cell.

Dave I @Gwen, at least Michonne seems important. T-Dogg just seemed like an afterthought only to die a heroic death. The prisoner who is black seems to have potential.FWIW, pre-teen girls also seem to be similarly neglected.-Cheers

Kristen I thought Michionne trusted Rick more than the Governor from the get-go. He said, sorry, you can't leave. The governor told her she could go at any time. Michionne likes Rick's group. She'd never fight beside them otherwise.

SlackerInc At the end of the last episode, it looked like they were opening up her characterisation. But she definitely regressed this week, ugh.DarkDoug, so so well said, especially your clever use of capitalisation ("Prove how Dangerous").

HISLOCAL Yeah I think that we were all impressed with how battle-hardened they became in between seasons, and so they needed to show us that it's impressive to in-world characters, too. I dig it.

jim To me this is the difference between TWD and NBC`s Revolution. I did`nt know if Glen was going to make it out of that room, hell he still might not. There was a real threat there, on Revolution Charlie steps on a landmine. Was there any doubt she would live....none.

Dan HISLOCAL, you're right about the duct tape foreshadowing... but I think Glen also used the arm of the chair to protect himself there, not just the duct tape.

PNeville85 It was interesting to see that Merle's racism isn't gone completely. 2 Broke Girls would have been proud of his joke.

SlackerInc I don't know about the latter part, but the "spearchucker" comment was disgusting.

Andrew Brings baby formula to prison, tells Rick she didn't ask for help... Um... Anyone see a conflict of dialogue in Michonne?

Jeff I mentioned that in a comment earlier, really annoying to me how they write for this character.

Blackhoney The writing for Michonne is just awful. This episode's dialogue made no sense at all. Its almost as if they don't know what to do with her. Very frustrating to see such a great character being so totally underdeveloped and utilized.

bbq_hax0r Michonne is pathetic. The show needs to put her out of her misery, unfortunately we're stuck with that scowling "badass!"(sarcasm) character which provides nothing to the show.

Philly yikes, she can't die soon enough for me , tired of these stereotypical characters, right outta central casting , like the large sassy black cartoon character from the animated movies , waiting for wanda sykes to show up...and always a racist redneck somewhere ..BS

Tarasa I am getting tired of the mime. So she is a strong silent type but it is a TV show and her character is getting old fast. Other than that and random log guy, it's good

SlackerInc It seems there is wide agreement that those two things marred an otherwise strong episode. But yeah, though, seriously: WTF was up with the hibernating hermit? That would have been a good scene in maybe the pilot or at least the first season.

farside Scariest moment of the episode was the banner that kept saying that AMC may be dropped from Fios. Please tell me this is a negotiating thing and that the chances of it happening are low.

chuckie We got the same message directed to Verizon customers. Standard AMC bullshit. Frankly, I won't miss if it goes away. Its two best shows are ending, and I'll catch up with Walking Dead on DVD. I hate that it's trying to use me as a pawn in its negotiations.

Minmin "scratching of the phone."

Danny Who is Maxwell? Milton Mamet is the telecommuting mad(or in this case mild) scientist.

Claude Maxwell is one of the prisoners and the black dude is Oscar, correct ?

bbq_hax0r Wait, Rick and Governor do similar things? No way! Rick is like totally awesome and teh Governor is a "dickhead" (according to fan boy Chris Hardwick). All of Rick's actions are completely justified whereas The Governor is just straight evil! D'uh.

jack_is_laughing Just out of curiosity, which "beloved" characters have they killed off? I liked T-Dawg but he was barely a scribble of a character. And if you think this season is too much of a "soap opera" how did you ever survive season 2?

jack_is_laughing Crap, sorry. I meant to say "Lori was *hated* by most fans..."

jack_is_laughing @binkibianca: But do you think it's reasonable that if she knew who these people were, and she knew they knew Andrea, that she wouldn't mention that Andrea is at Woodbury?

Beekayz In addition, why didn't she mention that Merle had been talking to Glenn and Maggie about his brother being part of their group? Surely this is important intelligence that would help Rick plan for the rescue mission?

jack_is_laughing Glenn mentioning the prison's location was in the previous episode. It's not like tons of stuff happens off-camera or in flashback on this show, or that the writers don't love characters endlessly talking about things. If they didn't show it, it probably didn't happened.

bbq_hax0r "I also hate the soap opera way the show moves along."Except he yearns for the past 2 seasons which have literally been soap operas with zombies mixed in. We should def. go back to Rick mulling about the dumbest things for episodes on end!

SlackerInc Sounds like we might disagree most strongly on the latter episodes of Season 1. I hated the CDC stuff: found it incredibly cheesy. At the time I was trying to tell myself to give up on the show, but knew I would eventually weaken and go back to it, LOL.

Bill My assumption was that the guy was just crazy. You spend 10 months with nothing but walking corpses for company and you might lose touch with reality.

Beekayz I'd say Bill got it right. The guy was obviously crazy and completely delusional.Who else would leave a dead dog rotting in their one room cabin for god knows how long or threaten to call the police?

jim Agree with everything you said. I actually rolled my eyes at that. Never have I rolled my eyes at this show but that could not be helped. I also find it bullshit that the Gov`s people never found this shack or this guy?

BigRoll Just very lazy writing, if they needed someone to throw to the zombies have Rick's crew run into one of the Gov's people who wandered too far away. With some setup, it would be much more believable. Sometimes these writers aren't keen on working the small details.

Andrew1073 Anyone else notice that the dead dog did not turn? Is this disease only for humans than? Perhaps test animals to find out why they are not effected? Haven't seen one zombie animal anywheres...

JudyH I was half-expecting them to discover that the coot was a now-insane survivalist with a huge cache of weapons and ammo hidden in a pit. And I could've sworn I spotted a corpse hanging upside down, in addition to the dead dog ...

Andrew1073 meh, it was just a thought, pardon me.

Beekayz Mark in Omaha: I saw what you did there! :)Andrew1073: Mark wasn't having a go at you. Have another read of what he wrote.

SlackerInc It was completely ridiculous. I can't imagine what they were even thinking, honestly.

Bill Science guy needs the walker to be able to raise one of its hands, so he unties both of them? Do some people just want to get eaten?

Beekayz From what I could see, he only unbuckled the right wrist restraint.

Bill @BEEKAYZ, I'd need to watch the scene again. For some reason, I thought he'd unbound both.

Dave I I think @BeeKayz is right. Science guy undid one buckle, zombie immidiately lurches at breakneck speed to bite him. My thought was, you KNOW that is what he is going to do. Why not just secure his chest if you are going to untie his hand?-Cheers

Lisa Has science guy lived in Woodbury the entire time? Did the Governor find him already there, holed up?

PNeville85 In the opening scene, you can see a head in the ceiling/wall watching Merle talk to Glenn. Could anybody tell who that was?

kteemac Best moment of the show -- the "sponsored by KFC" moment immediately following the scene with the zombies chowing down on log-cabin-hermit guy.

apearlma Yeah, that was awesome. Quite possibly the most poorly timed commercial ever. Lots of gore and blood followed by ad for chicken.

Solid Muldoon They say that human flesh tastes like chicken. Which means, of course, that chicken tastes like human flesh.

No... No, they say human flesh tastes like pork. Some cannibalistic societies used to call human "long pork". It's everything else that tastes like chicken. We taste like bacon. Delicious, delicious bacon.

notWalt Finger lickin' good !!

Lisa My husband and I laughed about that too. We then wondered (jokingly) if TWD had inspired anyone to become a vegetarian.

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Bridget

Carol being found plays an huge part in whether or not Daryl sticks with the Team Prison. Her return makes the otherwise unsympathetic Daryl more apt to stick with his group regardless of Merle's existence. (and with them being two of my favorite characters, I'm thankful for this)

Joe

still cant really understand why the governor is so pressed about finding other groups... he already has his kingdom if they hadn't taken glenn and maggie the prison group wouldn't have had any reason to find them...

Michael Dowling I think the Governors group is the "other group" talked about in the last season, the one whose guys Rick shot down in the bar.

The Governor keeps his group going by sucking the resources and killing other groups.

Dave I @Gwen, at least Michonne seems important. T-Dogg just seemed like an afterthought only to die a heroic death. The prisoner who is black seems to have potential.

FWIW, pre-teen girls also seem to be similarly neglected.

-Cheers

SlackerInc At the end of the last episode, it looked like they were opening up her characterisation. But she definitely regressed this week, ugh.

DarkDoug, so so well said, especially your clever use of capitalisation ("Prove how Dangerous").

PNeville85

It was interesting to see that Merle's racism isn't gone completely. 2 Broke Girls would have been proud of his joke.

Andrew

Brings baby formula to prison, tells Rick she didn't ask for help... Um... Anyone see a conflict of dialogue in Michonne?

Tarasa

I am getting tired of the mime. So she is a strong silent type but it is a TV show and her character is getting old fast. Other than that and random log guy, it's good

farside

Scariest moment of the episode was the banner that kept saying that AMC may be dropped from Fios. Please tell me this is a negotiating thing and that the chances of it happening are low.

jack_is_laughing Crap, sorry. I meant to say "Lori was hated by most fans..."

Beekayz In addition, why didn't she mention that Merle had been talking to Glenn and Maggie about his brother being part of their group?

Surely this is important intelligence that would help Rick plan for the rescue mission?

bbq_hax0r "I also hate the soap opera way the show moves along."

Except he yearns for the past 2 seasons which have literally been soap operas with zombies mixed in. We should def. go back to Rick mulling about the dumbest things for episodes on end!

Beekayz I'd say Bill got it right. The guy was obviously crazy and completely delusional.

Who else would leave a dead dog rotting in their one room cabin for god knows how long or threaten to call the police?

Beekayz Mark in Omaha: I saw what you did there! :)
Andrew1073: Mark wasn't having a go at you. Have another read of what he wrote.

Bill

Science guy needs the walker to be able to raise one of its hands, so he unties both of them? Do some people just want to get eaten?

Dave I I think @BeeKayz is right. Science guy undid one buckle, zombie immidiately lurches at breakneck speed to bite him. My thought was, you KNOW that is what he is going to do. Why not just secure his chest if you are going to untie his hand?

-Cheers

PNeville85

In the opening scene, you can see a head in the ceiling/wall watching Merle talk to Glenn. Could anybody tell who that was?

kteemac

Best moment of the show -- the "sponsored by KFC" moment immediately following the scene with the zombies chowing down on log-cabin-hermit guy.

GarySF

Can;t wait to pick up Michonne's essential business book, How to Win Friends and Influence People.

James

Michone was shot in the femur area - shouldn't she have bled to death in a couple of minutes? But instead, she walks around like she just got stung by a bee.

Zach

I like how Michone got shot in the hip, but in a matter of hours, is able to walk around without nary a hobble, to assault an armed compound. And I'm assuming without painkillers.Also, I didn't realize that hip shots bleed little.